Granulated or Powdered Sugar: Which Makes More Heat?
Nick, Brian
Introduction
Potassium nitrate and sugar are the most commonly used things to make smoke bombs. To make smoke bombs you need an oxidizer (potassium nitrate) and a fuel (granulated or powdered sugar). Keep in mind that you can use other oxidizers and fuels, but these are the most common. The purpose of our experiment was to find out which one would give off more heat when mixed with potassium nitrate, granulated sugar or powdered sugar.
Procedure
First we measured out 60 grams of potassium nitrate and 30 grams of granulated sugar. We then cooked them on a hot plate, stirring constantly so we didn't have any of the mixture stuck to the sides of the beaker. When the mixture started to have the color of burnt sugar (a caramel sort of color) we turned off the hot plate, scooped the mixture onto a piece of paper, and folded the paper so that the mixture could cool and harden together. We made two more mixture of the potassium nitrate and granulated sugar the same way with the same measurements. After we had three mixtures of potassium nitrate and granulated sugar, we made three mixtures of potassium nitrate and powdered sugar. With the powdered sugar, we followed the same procedure as the granulated sugar.
Results
G1
G2
g3
p1
p2
p3
55
55
55
55
55
55
100
250
200
800
700
700
250
550
400
999.99
900
999.99
300
720
600
600
999.99
999.99
500
999.99
700
250
999.99
999.99
750
999.99
999.99
999.99
999.99
999.99
999.99
999.99
700
250
300
999.99
999.99
500
100
720
600
200
42
600
400
400
250
250
The Laser Thermometer that we used to measure the heat of the flame would only measure up to 1,000 degrees witch was a problem because the smoke bomb got hotter than we could measure. However we graphed our data and we see a large difference between the two. On average the powdered sugar stayed over 1,000 degrees for longer than the granulated sugar. The granulated sugar created a longer lasting smoke bomb that increased and decreased in heat levels much slower, the powdered sugar smoke bomb lasted for much less time but it also increased in heat much more quickly. We cannot prove that one of them is hotter for we couldn’t measure their full heat. However it appears that the powdered sugar will create a hotter smoke bomb.
Conclusions
In conclusion we decided that the powdered sugar mixed with the potassium nitrate gave off more heat. We have reason to believe this because, when we were measuring the heat, the temperature of the powdered sugar went up faster than the granulated sugar. We don’t really have a solid conclusion because the thermometer couldn’t go past 999.99, so we didn’t really know which one gave off more heat.
Table of Contents
Granulated or Powdered Sugar: Which Makes More Heat?
Nick, Brian
Introduction
Potassium nitrate and sugar are the most commonly used things to make smoke bombs. To make smoke bombs you need an oxidizer (potassium nitrate) and a fuel (granulated or powdered sugar). Keep in mind that you can use other oxidizers and fuels, but these are the most common. The purpose of our experiment was to find out which one would give off more heat when mixed with potassium nitrate, granulated sugar or powdered sugar.
Procedure
First we measured out 60 grams of potassium nitrate and 30 grams of granulated sugar. We then cooked them on a hot plate, stirring constantly so we didn't have any of the mixture stuck to the sides of the beaker. When the mixture started to have the color of burnt sugar (a caramel sort of color) we turned off the hot plate, scooped the mixture onto a piece of paper, and folded the paper so that the mixture could cool and harden together. We made two more mixture of the potassium nitrate and granulated sugar the same way with the same measurements. After we had three mixtures of potassium nitrate and granulated sugar, we made three mixtures of potassium nitrate and powdered sugar. With the powdered sugar, we followed the same procedure as the granulated sugar.
Results
The Laser Thermometer that we used to measure the heat of the flame would only measure up to 1,000 degrees witch was a problem because the smoke bomb got hotter than we could measure. However we graphed our data and we see a large difference between the two. On average the powdered sugar stayed over 1,000 degrees for longer than the granulated sugar. The granulated sugar created a longer lasting smoke bomb that increased and decreased in heat levels much slower, the powdered sugar smoke bomb lasted for much less time but it also increased in heat much more quickly. We cannot prove that one of them is hotter for we couldn’t measure their full heat. However it appears that the powdered sugar will create a hotter smoke bomb.
Conclusions
In conclusion we decided that the powdered sugar mixed with the potassium nitrate gave off more heat. We have reason to believe this because, when we were measuring the heat, the temperature of the powdered sugar went up faster than the granulated sugar. We don’t really have a solid conclusion because the thermometer couldn’t go past 999.99, so we didn’t really know which one gave off more heat.
References
http://pisci.wikispaces.com/Sugar+and+Potassium+Nitrate+2008